another great post 🙂
“A pearl of a woman…goodness without sin” The Chronicler of Anjou
There is no love story with the marriage of Claude de Valois and King François I of France. Claude’s parents, Anne of Brittany and King Louis XII enjoyed a stable and somewhat loving relationship. But Claude was destined to bring the long-time independent Duchy of Brittany to the French crown and to give birth to male heirs for the throne and daughters to be married off for political and diplomatic reasons.
Claude was born on October 13, 1499 at Romorantin-Lanthenay. She was named after Claudius of Besançon, a seventh century abbot whose name Queen Anne had invoked on pilgrimage in the hopes of the safe delivery of a living child. Claude’s father, King Louis, was at war in Italy when she was born but he returned in November to attend her christening. The marriage contract between Louis and Anne…
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